ERTL Company
The ERTL Company was a toy company which produced and released Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends toys from 1985 to 2004. Between 1993 and 1996 in the US, these were packaged and released for the Shining Time Station brand. The most popular range was a 1/64th scale die-cast models of the characters. Overview From 1985 to 1992, the first releases of the ERTL ranged had various packaging styles, often different across the period, and between the different ranges. In 1991 all continuing ranges in the US had their packaging streamlined, with the packaging adopting a Shining Time Station theme. This including a countryside background, and the bluebird and butterfly logo. The reverse side often featured a numbered collector card of the character. The Shining Time Station themed packaging card was discontinued when the television series ended in 1996. 1/64th Scale Die-cast Range Models 1989-1990 *Thomas The Tank Engine *Edward The Blue Engine *Henry The Green Engine *Gordon The Big Express Engine *James The Red Engine *Percy The Small Engine *Toby The Tram Engine *Duck The GWR Pannier Tank Engine *Diesel *Annie and Clarabel (also available with either Thomas or Percy) *Troublesome Trucks *Bertie The Bus *Sir Topham Hatt & The Engineer 1991-1992 *Bill *Ben *Donald The Scottish Twin *Douglas The Scottish Twin *Harold The Helicopter *Trevor The Traction Engine *Terence The Tractor *Henrietta 1993 *Mavis *Oliver the GWR Engine *Daisy *BoCo *The Famous Visitor - "City Of Truro" *Milk & Tar Wagons *Sodor Fuel Wagons *Bulgy The Bus 1994 * Old Coaches * The Breakdown Train 1995 * 199 Diesel * Godred * Culdee * George * Toad * Mail Coaches 1996 * Rheneas * Sir Handel * Peter Sam * Duncan * Rusty * Express Coaches * Sir Topham Hatt's Car Thomas and the Magic Railroad To celebrate the release of Thomas and the Magic Railroad in 2000, some models were given unique packaging. These models were Lady, Diesel 10, Splatter and Dodge, Thomas, James, Percy, Harold Multi-packs *6 Pack containing D199, Sir Topham Hatt's Car, Rusty, Sir Handel, and 2 coaches Playsets and Accessories *Wellsworth Station Wind Up A large walking wind up Fat Controller with large feet was released. There was also a range of Wind-up ERTL vehicles. These included: * Thomas * Henry * James * Percy * Bill * Ben * Bertie Miniatures Around 1991, a miniature range was produced. The vehicles had sticker faces and were packaged with a small section of a railway. Once all were collected, the parts formed a playset. Vehicles Multi-packs * Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel * Thomas, James, and trucks * Edward, Bertie, and Trevor * Edward, James, and Percy * Diesel, Harold, and Toby Playsets and Accessories Pull Back vehicles The first set of pull back vehicles were large 6 inch die cast models of Thomas and Percy, released in 1984. These could be operated by dragging the model backwards along the floor so their wheels could "wind up" and letting go to "unwind". After 1993, another set of pull back vehicles were released. 1/64 scale die cast models of Thomas, Percy, Toby, and Bertie used the same mechanism. These were under the range of "Pull back & go!". Trivia * The only 1/64th scale vehicle not released within the Shining Time range is the Saved from Scrap Trevor, as seen in Is This the End?. * Not every Godred was marked as a Special Edition Engine. Gallery 1/64th Scale Die-Cast Miscellaneous File:Sts_merch_ertl_6pack_rusty.jpg File:Sts_merch_ertl_carry-along_playset_4061.jpg File:Sts_merch_ertl_playset_railyard.jpg File:Sts_merch_ertl_playset_miniature.jpg File:1989ERTLThomas1.jpg|1989 range File:1989ERTLThomasrange.jpg|1989 range with Annie and Clarabel File:1990ERTLThomasrange.jpg|1990 range File:1992ERTLThomasrange.jpg|1992 range File:1993ERTLThomasrange.jpg|1993 range (1st half) Category:Merchandise Category:Companies